John 8:22

22 Then the Jews said, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, "Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

John 8:22 Meaning and Commentary

John 8:22

Then said the Jews, will he kill himself?
&c.] Which was not only a wicked, but a foolish consequence, drawn from his words: for it by no means followed, because he was going away, and whither they could not come, that therefore he must destroy himself; this seems to be what they would have been glad he would have done, and suggested the thought that he might do it, in which they imitated Satan, ( Matthew 4:6 ) , under whose influence they now apparently were, and hoped that he would, which would at once extricate them out of their difficulties on his account:

because he sayeth, whither I go ye cannot come:
this is no reason at all; for had Christ's meaning been, as they blasphemously intimate, they might have destroyed themselves too, and have gone after him.

John 8:22 In-Context

20 He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

21 Again he said to them, "I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come."

22 Then the Jews said, "Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, "Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

23 He said to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.

24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he."